ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Avery Dingman had a season-high 16 points off the bench as Creighton's reserves scored 29 crucial points in a 81-62 road win at DePaul on Tuesday night.

Ranked 23rd in the USA Today coaches poll, Creighton won its eighth straight game by double-figures to improve to 13-2 on the year and move into sole possession of first place with a 3-0 BIG EAST record.

Creighton trailed much of the first half, not taking its first lead until 24-23 on a Doug McDermott three-pointer with 7:19 left in the half. McDermott later helped Creighton to its biggest lead of the first half, beating the halftime buzzer with a lay-up to give CU a 37-32 lead at the break.

Reserve center Will Artino gave the Jays a spark in the first half, owning seven points and four rebounds to tie McDermott for team-high honors.

Creighton's offense came out strong to start the second half, getting a three-pointer from Austin Chatman, consecutive McDermott scores and a Jahenns Manigat three-ball to move ahead 47-38 with 15:39 left. Dingman followed with a four-point play with 15:09 left as CU's margin stretched into double-digits for the first time.

The CU lead reached as large as 15 after a Dingman charity toss, but DePaul battled back. A three-point play by Tommy Hamilton IV, followed by a Hamilton trey, made it a seven-point game. After a McDermott hoop, Brandon Young then converted a traditional three-point play to trim the CU lead to 62-56 with 7:15 left. The lead returned to eight after a driving lay-up from Dingman, 11 after a Wragge three-pointer, and 13 after two foul shots by Chatman.

Wragge added his third trey of the game with 3:28 left as Creighton took a 74-60 lead and held on for the win.

DePaul was led by 22 points from Brandon Young and 16 by Cleveland Melvin. The Blue Demons shot 40.4 percent for the game.

Creighton got 19 points from McDermott to lead five men in double-figures. Besides Dingman's 16 on 6-of-8 shooting, Wragge had 12 points while Chatman and Artino both tallied 10 points. CU shot 48.2 percent for the game and made 11-of-21 three-pointers. CU also outrebounded the Blue Demons 39-32.

Creighton returns to action on Sunday with a 2:05 pm home game vs. Xavier.